Disclaimer: Naruto is the intellectual property of Kishimoto Masashi. If you recognize any characters, they're probably not mine.

Warnings: I am a little rusty on characterizations/information, so please let me know if things are completely off. No mature language or themes in this chapter, but that might change in future installments. Also, this chapter features minor characters.

Premise: An inside look on the lives of some Konoha ninja before (and sometimes after) the disaster with the Kyuubi.

Chapter summary: Inoichi is an academy student. So is the girl who will eventually become his wife.

Passing Moments

Inoichi starts noticing her when, at the start of their fourth year at the Academy, she shows up at the front of the room with the rest of the students who are being transferred into their class. He's never seen her before, but that doesn't really mean much in a big village like Konoha; there are so many ninja and civilians residing here that he doesn't even know half of the other kids in his year, let alone the rest of the Academy. She looks somewhat nervous – as do the rest of her peers next to the chalk board – because even though everyone's been in school for a while, the classes usually don't interact outside of fieldtrips or special training activities. What makes her stand out compared to the others, however, is how… ordinary she looks.

No clan markings, no distinguishing features that indicate a bloodline limit, no distinct fashion style that catches his – or anyone else's – attention. No… well, anything. Even her hair is a non-descript shade of light brown, tied in a sort of loose ponytail. It's almost obvious that she does this in about ten seconds in the morning; without a mirror, even, if the slightly lob-sided look (she's probably right-handed) is any indication.

He notices that she is nervous because although her face is politely neutral, some of the muscles on her neck and jaw alternate between flexing and relaxing; her fingers don't fidget – in fact, they are almost too still; she doesn't tap her feet, but with the way her legs quiver, it's obvious that she wants to. In comparison to the other students – in particular, the bouncing bundle of energy standing to her left that makes her seem downright serene – she seems hardly worth paying attention to. Granted, there is also a Hyuuga up there, which means, in the very least, that the majority of the girls and even a few of the guys are sending speculative glances in his direction, be it of admiration, awe, or potential competition.

But… This girl.

He doesn't know why he is fascinated with her. She seems like a nobody from an unknown clan – if she even has one. Perhaps this is why he spends the majority of the time before the late bell rings quietly observing the unfamiliar students, settling more than once on this particular girl's face. His father has been teaching him to read body language and though he is not quite there yet, he is fairly confident that he will soon be proficient at it.

After all, members of the Yamanaka clan need to be able to impersonate their targets fairly accurately when administering their mind techniques. But Inoichi enjoys this mental exercise even without the added benefits of improving his espionage skills.

Next to him, Nara Shikaku takes an obligatory sweeping assessment and grumbles about how more people in a room contributes to a rising room temperature and how that's going to be so troublesome in the summer months (which is not that far away). Meanwhile, Akimichi Chouza just keeps munching on a strip of jerky that has been treated to last a long time, courtesy of a new variation in the preserving process that his grandfather is trying to improve. (Inoichi still has about half of a ten-pound package left in his room from the last time Chouza's grandfather had needed willing volunteers to try out the recipe.) (1)

"Why," Shikaku drawls, as Inoichi continues to mentally catalogue each of the students' nervous habits, "are they here?"

Inoichi knows his friend isn't really asking that question so much as he is complaining about the situation. New students mean a shift in class dynamics – even if it's for a short while, since it seems like everyone will settle down in time – and Shikaku dislikes having to adjust.

"I recognize some of them," Chouza says. "They're from 4-C, aren't they?"

Inoichi shifts his attention to his friend. "The class with the big accident at the end of last term?"

Chouza nods. "Same one. I heard that one of the kids set off a series of explosion tags. Some of the students were sent to the hospital for a few days for observation." He contemplates the figures at the front of the classroom. "I think their class was split up because their teacher was also injured."

"Bah," Shikaku interrupts. "Did they have to send so many girls over? They're so troublesome."

Inoichi just grins. "Just you wait. One of these days, you're going to meet and marry one. And she's going to have you wrapped around her pinky."

"No way," his friend mumbles. "I'm going to die single, and of old age."

Before Inoichi can tease his friend further, a young chuunin arrives and calls for attention. Immediately, the low murmurs die away and are replaced with a silent, almost tangible anticipation.

"Due to his injuries at the end of the last school year, Hayashi-sensei has decided to take a sabbatical for this term," the chuunin says. "So there's been a little bit of shuffling with the class rosters. Your previous instructor, Machida-sensei has taken over a different class, so I will be your instructor for this year. We're going to have arranged seating for a few weeks, since we're not all familiar with each other. I am Nakamura Arata. You may call me Arata-sensei, or just Sensei."

Inoichi sees how the students shift slightly at that and inwardly smirks. He has a good feeling about this new chuunin instructor, and thinks that Shikaku and Chouza might agree. The older, more experienced chuunin like to be called by their family names because it maintains a level of respect and distance. The younger ones, however, go by their lower names to seem more approachable to the rest of the student body. (2)

"We don't have time for individual introductions today," Arata-sensei continues, "but I'll give you time to get to know each other soon enough. Now, when I call your name, please stand up and move to your assigned seat."

Chouza frowns and whispers soft enough so that only his friends can hear. "I hope we don't get split up."

Shikaku sighs. "Unfortunately, that's very likely. We'll probably be seated alphabetically, and you know how that goes."

Chouza responds by frowning some more and finishing the last of his jerky.

Inoichi doesn't really mind since Arata-sensei has said that this is just a temporary arrangement. With the excitement of a new teacher and a new seating chart, he forgets all about the girl who has caught his attention.

The next morning, everyone is standing in the hallway.

"What's going on?" he asks Chouza as soon as he spots the other boy above the crowd of students.

"Sensei's preparing something for us," his friend responds as Shikaku joins them. "He said not to come inside until he's done."

Suddenly, the door opens and Arata-sensei signals for their attention. The students closest to the door notice right away, but the ones further back take a bit longer to quiet down.

"You have exactly ten minutes to figure out the problem I've created," he says when it's finally silent. "Anyone caught out of their assigned seat will be marked down. Starting… now."

He disappears in a flash of smoke.

"Bunshin?" Chouza asks out loud, as the other students start making their way inside the classroom.

Shikaku shakes his head. "Not exactly. Not with the smoke."

Inoichi just figures that it's a technique they haven't learned yet, so he turns to move to his seat. However, before he can take more than two steps, Shikaku snags his arm.

"What now?" he grumbles.

Shikaku merely raises an eyebrow before pointedly gesturing to the blackboard. The blackboard that is now covered with writing; writing that seems to be… poetry? Or, at least, something like it. Inoichi hasn't had that much experience with poetry, of all things, so he isn't sure what to make of the words. (3)

"Shika, what…?"

He doesn't even know where to start.

There is no clear beginning. Only, the autumn road sits behind the small bell tree, and close to it, below the river which meets halfway up the mountain, and, follow the direction of the winding path, and then, heading toward the day on the other side of the flattened land, and so on.

The class spends another minute or so of just staring at the board before whispers break out. No one is sure of what it's supposed to mean, what Arata-sensei has in store for them, or what exactly they are supposed to solve in the first place. Several students start to head for their seats; others stand around in small, nervous clusters, chatting about inconsequential topics; a few individuals remain close to the chalkboard, frowning or conversing in low, hushed tones. Inoichi notices that the girl from yesterday is part of the last group.

Slowly, still eyeing the board full of writing, he makes his way to his assigned seat, only to pause when he sees that there is someone else already occupying it.

"Wha-"

Baffled, he glances around to make sure he's in the right place when he notices that no one's sitting in the same spot as yesterday.

Then there's a light tug on his arm and Inoichi turns around to see that girl again.

"Excuse me," she says. "Sorry, I need to get by."

He hasn't noticed that he's blocking the aisle. He moves to make room, but she doesn't walk past him.

"Is there something wrong?" he asks.

She blinks at him. After a few seconds, she asks, "Do you know where to go?" When he doesn't respond, she pulls him toward the blackboard.

"So which one are you?" she asks, pointing to the various lines.

Because Inoichi is so obviously intelligent and on top of things, he answers with a, "Huh?"

"Which one?" she repeats again, gesturing to the writing. "We already figured out at least half of what Arata-sensei wrote down." She tilts her head toward the students who are already seated. "Some of the other girls figure that we should help everyone sit down before time's up."

"Um…" He's still lost, since he can't figure out what the poetry is supposed to mean. There is no rhyme or reason to it – no stable meter or symmetry to its shape or rhythm.

"It's our new seating chart," the girl explains. "He used our names to direct us where to go. See?"

Inoichi takes the time to really look at the written symbols, pausing over each character. Slowly, he sees a pattern to the words.

Oh.

"That one." He points to a line.

below the river which meets halfway up the mountain

"Oh." She blinks at him, and then smiles. Inoichi thinks it's a nice look, especially since she doesn't seem as nervous as yesterday. "Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm your new desk partner for today. Kawashita Satomi."

Her expression makes him grin in return. "Yamanaka Inoichi," he says as he holds out a hand for her to shake. She has a gentle, loose grip, and it's not as firm as he's used to. He doesn't shake hands with very many girls. "Do you know where our seats are?"

"Yeah. Right this way."

When Arata-sensei reveals himself (by releasing the henge that had made him look like a potted plant) at the end of the allotted time, everyone is sitting down in their new seats.

By the end of the day, Inoichi learns that his initial assessments of Satomi (calm, civilian, plain) are, for the most part, true. He's glad for that. It makes dealing with the rest of the week – and the obnoxious individuals in class – that much easier.

Arata-sensei doesn't change their seating arrangement every day, but when he does, it's always through a new set of instructions. Once, he writes down a series of mathematical problems and forces everyone to calculate their next seat based off of their current placement in the room. Another time, he places the room in a genjutsu where the students have to find their new partner and desk in complete darkness. In yet another instance, he makes them use a series of predetermined hand signals to find another person with the same "password", all without communicating verbally.

During this time, Inoichi has more new desk partners in the span of a month than he has had during the previous three years at the Academy. It's not such a bad thing, despite being stuck with the Hyuuga snob at one point, because he gets to know more of his classmates better now that they aren't necessarily stuck in the same cliques all the time.

Eventually, it goes back to a free seating chart. Inoichi finds himself sitting more often with Shikaku and Chouza, but sometimes he doesn't mind sharing desks with the various members of their class. And if he generally gravitates towards Satomi during those times, well, who's to blame him? Unlike some of the boys, she doesn't make a ruckus or resort to childish displays of bravado; unlike most of the girls, she doesn't gossip about the boys, or her hair, or the latest fashion trends. She's Satomi, and she's plain and ordinary and comfortable. She's dedicated to her learning, and he can appreciate that, even if it means that she forces him to do his homework before it's absolutely necessary.

And since she's not from a ninja clan, he doesn't have to worry about her trying to use him as political leverage or anything like that. (Better yet, she doesn't even seem to care, save when he starts to slack on his coursework.) The Yamanaka clan is not one of the four pillars of Konoha like the Hyuuga or Uchiha, but it is still one of its more acknowledged families. They have traditions and rules; they have a bloodline limit and secret techniques; they have a loose hierarchy system and levels of prestige within the clan.

It's nice to have someone outside of all that.

(No one notices Arata-sensei's self-satisfied smirk when it's discovered that his class has a better socialization and cooperation rate than the other classes of the Academy.)

To Be Continued…

Footnotes:

1. School year: Shikaku indirectly complains about summer heat, even though the school year has just started. That's because I'm having the academic term start in the spring, not the fall.

2. Family name and lower name: Family name (aka: surname) is the same as last name; lower name is one's first/given/personal name. The order is different in some cultures because of varying importance in socioeconomic values. In some societies, your family name comes first because it shows who you are and where you come from – this is especially true in places where reputation and family background (and its lineage) are important. Your personal name has less political significance and is generally only used by family and friends.

3. Poetry: No, that wasn't actual poetry. I'm terrible at those. Besides, I needed people to be confused from Arata-sensei's "instructions". Actual Japanese poetry is… more elegant than that (or at least, can be). While doing some peripheral research, I was not-so-surprised by the information I didn't know about Japanese poetry; mainly the fact that there are quite a few more different types than just haiku. Well, in hindsight, it makes perfect cultural sense. XD

Yama = mountain
Naka = middle
Kawa = river
Shita = below

Author's Notes:

Originally, this was supposed to be a short(er) one-shot about Inoichi meeting up with young!Naruto, and Naruto unknowingly gaining a reluctant ally, because I refuse to believe that Iruka is truly the first person to reach out to Naruto. The first one Naruto acknowledges, maybe – that boy is hopelessly dense in a lot of ways – but not the first one, period (Hiruzen and the Ichiraku family aside). It was also supposed to be angstier, but then I had to write out the backstory for Inoichi's wife, and… stuff happened. And more stuff didn't happen. So. Now it's a multi-shot (which is why it's not under And They All Fall Down), not-quite-angsty-yet, and I have no idea how long it's going to be.

Please review! I'd love to know what worked or didn't work for you, and why. Also, if you have ideas for anyone else I should include, feel free to offer suggestions. You never know if it'll be the source of inspiration for a future chapter.

Yatsuka Hikagi

February 24, 2012